Teachers: 6 Reasons To Invest In Professional Development
If you’re like most teachers, you love to learn and love to share that knowledge with other people. In fact, that’s probably one of the main reasons why you were attracted to teaching in the first place and chose education as a career.
But carving out the time – and money – for professional development can sometimes fall by the wayside as you juggle the demands placed on you inside and outside the classroom.
It takes energy to make professional development a priority. To help make that happen, let’s look at some of the top reasons to invest in professional development…
Boost Your Teaching Salary
In most school districts, the more professional development credits you accrue, the more you get paid, so that’s pretty powerful incentive to take professional development courses. And the earlier you achieve those professional development credits, the longer you’ll benefit from a higher salary, and the higher your retirement benefits.
Stay Up On The Latest Trends In Teaching
In all likelihood, the basic principles of teaching will stay the same throughout your career, but the nuances of what to teach and how to teach change over time. Some of that change is caused by changes in your subject matter, but some of it is also caused by changes in the way students learn. It’s no secret that students’ brains are being rewired by technology and it’s becoming harder to keep them engaged. Professional development courses can help you develop the skills, tools, and resources to adapt and improve your teaching.
Get Support And Inspiration From Other Teachers
When you spend the majority of your work day with students, not colleagues, teaching can sometimes feel isolating. In professional development courses, you can interact with other teachers and get support and inspiration that might not be available within the walls of your school.
Reignite Your Passion For Teaching
In any career, it’s easy to get in a rut when you’ve been doing something for a long time, and teaching is no exception, no matter how much you love it. By taking professional development courses, you can learn new subjects, methods, and teaching strategies, which can help reignite your passion.
Help Your Students
Sometimes, it takes becoming a student to be able to relate to students. By challenging yourself in professional development courses – and maybe even struggling at points – you’ll once again view learning from your perspective as a student. This could re-energize you, and perhaps motivate you to adjust your teaching style or materials to personalize learning for your students.
Commit To Lifelong Learning
In any school district, the best teachers are the ones who understand that education never ends, that it’s a lifelong journey, not simply a means to an end. As a teacher, every day, you learn from your students and colleagues. But to invest in yourself – to commit to taking professional development courses on a regular basis – can take your teaching career to a whole new level, personally and financially.
Online Professional Development Courses For Teachers
At Education 4 Equity, we offer an array of online professional development courses for teachers, including 1-credit courses, 2-credit courses, 3-credit courses, and graduate level courses.
From formative assessments to NGSS, cognitively guided instruction to personalized learning, you can take the professional development courses online, at your own pace.
Click here to learn more about our online professional development courses for teachers.